Dune: The Saga is Far From Over
by Nurple
Summary: Muad'Dib and the Fremin return to the caves to get their belongings. Irulan tags along.
1. Dune: The Saga is Far From Over, Chapte...

# Dune: The Saga is Far From Over

### By [Nurple][1]

Dune is owned by Frank Herbert, not I. This fanfic is based on the 3-part movie shown on The Sci-Fi Channel on December 1st, 2000. Please email me if you want to use this fanfic on your site.

  
  


Muad'Dib (Paul Atreides) stood, facing his only love Chani, and knowing she could be nothing more than a concubine for him, as his mother was for his father. This prospect saddened him, but he knew, as did she, that an alliance between himself and Princess Irulan was the only way to stop this seemingly endless and pointless feud. He sighed and turned to face the people in the room. 

Muad'Dib: My mother is now the closest heir to Baron Harkonnen. However, as a Reverend Mother, she could never carry out her duties as both. The next and only other heirs to Baron Harkonnen are myself, and Alia, and I am the Duke of Arrakis. She is what the Truth-Sayer would call "The Abomination." The one who knows all. Alia?

Alia: I don't want to be Baroness Harkonnen. That name carries with it the stench of generations of evil. I'm happy being myself, thank-you.

Muad'Dib: Then it's settled. There will be no more House Harkonnen.

The throngs of Fremin present, and even some of the noble-born, cheered and shouted. He raised his hand and they were silenced.

Muad'Dib: And because of the soon-to-be alliance between myself and Princess Irulan, the House Atreides and the Emperial Court will merge. Now, this impromptu ordiance is through. We are going home. 

He, his mother and sister, Chani, and the Fremin headed to the doors to the side chambers. Irulan followed them, and caught up with Muad'Dib.

Irulan: Paul, wait! 

He turned to face her, stern-faced and unhappy.

Muad'Dib: I am known to the Fremin, my brethren, and to Chani, as Muad'Dib. Only my mother and sister may call me Paul. You shall call me Muad'Dib, too.

Irulan: Fine, Muad'Dib. Where are you going? 

Muad'Dib: Back to Cave of Ridges. Why?

Irulan: But what about the wedding?

Muad'Dib: When I come back. The Fremin no longer must live in caves. We are moving back into Seige De'Bar. Then I will come back to the Atreides hall and live there. You'll live there, too.

Irulan: Can I come with you?

Muad'Dib stopped and turned to Chani, who nodded.

Muad'Dib: Chani will get you a still suit and help you adjust it. Meet us out front when you're done. Stilgar!

Stilgar: Yes, M'lord?

Muad'Dib: Activate the thumpers.

Stilgar bowed and went to do his task.

Ten minutes later, they were all out front, and Irulan came out of the palace. She looked unsure and uncomfortable in the stillsuit, but she knew it was a neccessity. On her back was a small rucksack. Muad'Dib, unlike the others, was out on the sand, waiting. The other Fremin were standing on the last step. The thumper was activated.

Irulan: What is that sound?

Stilgar: You were born to be a Fremin, M'lady.

Irulan: Is that a compliment or an insult?

Stilgar: The highest compliment a Fremin would give an outworlder. That sound is the worm. The only other outworlder who was able to hear it without trying is Muad'Dib. You're almost worthy of him.

Irulan rolled her eyes and waited. Chani tapped her on the shoulder and handed her a hook.

Irulan: What's this?

Chani: What does it look like?

Irulan: A hook on a stick. For walking, right?

Chani shook her head.

Chani: For riding.

Irulan: Riding what? I don't see why we'd need these to ride an avicopter.

Chani: Not for the avicopter. For the worm. If you marry Muad'Dib, you must learn to do things as we have done them. Here, watch this!

Irulan looked foreward and watched in amazement as Muad'Dib hooked the worm, climbed up, and turned it towards them.

Irulan: So, we climb up there like he did?

Chani: Yes. But I will help you. It takes much strength, and you spent your life indoors.

Irulan: It _is_ going to stop, right?

Chani shook her head, grabbed her hand, and ran with her out to the worm. She hooked up and grabbed Irulan's hook, showing her how to climb, then pulling her the last few feet. They stood on either side of Muad'Dib, Irulan filled with excitement, happy with this new adventure, and Chani filled with sadness, first at the loss of her son, and now at having to share her lover with another woman. She sighed, and Muad'Dib slowed the worm, and they jumped off.

Inside Cave of Ridges, Chani showed Irulan to her room, gave her some food, shook the spice-lamp to light it, then left her and went to her own room. Irulan changed into the clothes Chani had given her: Homespun pants, a loose blouse, a cape, and boots, and then followed her. Stilgar blocked her path.

Irulan: Let me pass.

Stilgar: Where do you think you are going? Only Muad'Dib, Jessica, Chani, Alia, and Othium are allowed back here.

Irulan: Why am I not allowed back there?

Stilgar: To the Fremin, you are not of noble blood. Neither is Othium, technically, but he is a trusted friend and guard. Not even Gurney Hallack is allowed into their chambers.

Irulan: Oh. Why?

Stilgar: It is a sanctuary for them. A private space. Other reasons exist as well, but they are not spoken of. Don't look so down-faced. We gave you the biggest room in the entire cave-system.

Irulan: Still, I wonder what goes on back their.

Stilgar: You are incredibly naive, then. Muad'Dib and Chani are life-partners. Chani is the mother of his first-born son, Leto (after his father, you know), who was killed by Rabban. Twised boy, that Rabban. Did you know, it was a child who killed him? A very brave child who was the first in the crowd, and cut off his head.

Irulan: Eh. So that is why Chani doesn't seem to like me.

Stilgar: You are not aware of the ways of people out here. She is cautious and pragmatic. She will warm up to you, because she doesn't have to give him up.

Irulan: Yes she does.

Stilgar: Are you also not aware of the concept of a concubine? But she will be happy. And you, unfortunately, will be very lonely. I think those books you love shall probably be your only comfort.

Irulan: Oh. Oh, I see. Indeed. Good day, sir.

Stilgar: Call me Stilgar. Or still, even. I am... **was** the naib of this tribe. Now it is Muad'Dib's turn.

Irulan nodded and went back to her chamber to think. A few hours later, there was a tapping at her wall.

Irulan: Yes?

Othium: May I bring you anything, M'lady? Some food?

Irulan: Yes, thank-you.

Othium left and returned a little while later with bread and coffee. She looked at the food, confused.

Othium: We eat simply out here, M'lady.

Irulan: Spice?

Othium: It's everywhere. We don't add it to the food, it's just there.

Irulan: Oh. Alright.

A few hours later, there was much noise throughout the cave. She looked out her door, to see the Fremin moving lamps, tables, blankets, and clothes out of the door. There was the distant sound of a thumper.

Irulan: What's going on here?

Muad'Dib: We're moving our belongings back into Seige De'Bar. I'll be back tomorrow morning. The food Othium brang you must last until then. We'll take an Avicopter back to my father's palace.

She nodded and went back to her room. Awhile later, there was that sound again. The worm, rumbling through the sands below them. She got up and went to the mouth of the cave to watch. Then it happened. An explosion, a gush, a whoosh, and there it was. Spice: Treasure of the universe. She watched it fall in the afternoon sun, and waited for it to dry. All of the sudden, she got a sly look on her face.

Irulan: I've read about this before. I think I can pull it off.

She climbed down to the desert floor and walked to the Spice blow. She looked around to be sure no one was looking, then proceeded to gather as much as she could into her pockets, and took off her cape, using that as well to hold it. She brought it in bag fulls back into the cave and measured it into baskets, just as she had read.

As she stacked the last basket against the walls of the furthest rooms of the cave, a thought struck her: Her footprints. Hurriedly she rushed out to cover them. A rumble told her the worm was near. She scraped the ground with her cape as she ran back towards the cave. She turned, and there it was. The worm, out of the sand, and looming in the sky above her. The last thing she knew was the sound of a thousand souls screaming into her mind as the great beast sucked her up, up, and into it's mouth, and then.... Nothing.

  
  


To be continued...

Please R and R. I need to know if this is any good or not, and whether or not I should write another chapter.

   [1]: mailto:perl_gerl@hotmail.com



	2. Dune: The Saga is Far From Over, Chapte...

# Dune: The Saga is Far From Over

### By [Nurple][1]

Dune is owned by Frank Herbert. This is not based on the book or the video game, but on the 3-part movie shown on Sci-Fi Channel. This is part two of who knows how many.

  
  


Muad'Dib walked out gates of Seige De'Bar, and climbed into the waiting Avicopter. Chani was in the passenger seat. When he came in, she headed for the hatch. 

Muad'Dib: Chani, I'll be back in a few minutes. I have to pick up Irulan, stop here for some things, then head on to the palace. Okay?

Chani: I will see you when you return, Muad'Dib. Wait! Listen!

Muad'Dib: Pre-Spice Mass. Big one, too.... right outside the Cave of Ridges. I gotta get back fast before Irulan gets any crazy ideas into her head about gathering it herself.

Chani: It will blow before then. We can only hope... Hurry.

Muad'Dib: Good-bye, love.

Chani nodded at him and climbed out, and he took off. While in air he felt the rumble that meant that not only had the mass blown, but that Shai Haleurt was nearby, and coming to collect the remains of it's children. He shuddered and maxed the 'copter's speed.

When he got to the mass, his fears were confirmed, as the worm rose out of the ground, about to swallow Irulan. He whooshed in, but he was too late. The worm had Irulan. And it was about to have him, too! He veered to the left, letting the worm fall to the sand, and watched it swim away.

Inside the cave, he was surprised to note that every bit of the spice had been dried, collected, and packed neatly, measured into kilo baskets, ready to take to the Seige. He sighed and packed it into his Avicopter, filling it to the max, and flew slowly back to the Seige.

At the Seige, everyone was gathered in the courtyard, waiting for his return. He landed and exited, bringing baskets of spice with him. The crowd cheered, and he handed the baskets out for mixing, baking, and selling to the guild. For a very large sum, of course. Chani walked up to the copter after the crowd dispersed.

Chani: Where is she?

Muad'Dib paused, sighed, and turned to Chani.

Muad'Dib: She is dead. She was the one who packed up the Spice. She must have read about it somewhere. She was plotting against us, Chani. She hid the Spice in the back of the cave. I followed the trail, and there it was. She was trying to cover her footprints when the worm swallowed her. In a sick and twisted way, she deserved it.

Chani: What will we do now? Her sisters are far too young, and no one else has a daughter. Is there any way?

Muad'Dib: It will make things much more difficult, that is for sure. I **will** be emperor. I promise you that.

Chani: Can't you just be happy here? Being Duke Atreides of Arrakis? You could even be Baron Harkonnen. Must this go on?

Muad'Dib took Chani by her arms and led her into the copter, to talk with her in private.

Muad'Dib: Chani. The only way to change the face of Arrakis is to own Arrakis. I can't own Arrakis, because the Emperor's threats to my father still fall on my head. I must have complete power to rule Arrakis. Not just desert power. Complete power. In a way, I think my father knew all of this would happen. That would be the reason he asked for a son.

Chani: Why do you care, Muad'Dib? This isn't your homeland. Why do you care about changing the face of Arrakis?

Muad'Dib: I'm surprised at you, Chani. This **is** my home. My home is with you, and you make it out to be nothing that I want my home to be as beautiful as the place I come from. I **could** have bribed the guild long ago to take us both back to Calidan, but that would be cowardly, and arrogant.

Chani: What is so arrogant about leaving with me from this place?

Muad'Dib: There are hundreds of others, my brethren now, who cannot bribe to leave here. It would be arrogant to think only of us and not of the other people of this planet. We can't **all** fit on Calidan, either. I must change the face of this planet, so we don't have to leave. Chani, please.

Chani: I'm sorry. I just can't take this any more. The sacrifice we've made. And for what? I see no waters! No oceans, no rivers, no rain. Will it come, Muad'Dib? While I am still alive? While our children can enjoy it, and have a better life than their parents? Will it?

Chani turned to grab him, but stopped. He was having another vision. She sighed and sat, waiting for it to pass.

Inside Muad'Dib's mind, he saw clearly the waters of his homeland. Only it wasn't Calidan. No, it was here, on Arrakis. There was rain, and the people came out and danced in it. He was there, and so was Chani, and they were still very young. Chani held a small child in her arms. A girl of maybe three. Then he woke up.

Muad'Dib: You are pregnant. Within three years, our homeland will change, to that of my planet Calidan.

Chani looked at him strangly, and nodded, the patted her belly. He took off in the Avicopter, and headed back for the Emperor's palace, which was preparing to move. As he walked in, one of the Emperor's Saurdikar, an outside guard, turned, and shot an arrow at him. With his skill as the Fulkuram, he grabbed Chani and ducked sideways. The poisoned arrow hit one of the exiting guild agents in the neck. Muad'Dib turned, pulled a blade from his boot, and stabbed the Saurdikar in the heart with it. The other guards backed off.

Emperor (Shaddam): What is this!?

Muad'Dib: One of your Saurdikar just tried to take my life. I ducked sideways and it hit him. Then, I stabbed the man in the heart. What's the problem?

Shaddam: You killed one of my guards. Where is my daughter?

Muad'Dib: She is dead.

Shaddam: What!!!

Chani: She gathered Spice from the mass and hid it from us. When she went out to cover her footprints, the worm swallowed her.

Muad'Dib: It was painless for her, I assure you. The sound would have driven her unconscious before she was swallowed.

Shaddam: My eldest daughter is dead! Someone will pay dearly for this! **You** will pay dearly for this. Guards!

Shaddam stormed into the castle, and Chani and Muad'Dib drew their blades. The guards looked at them, considered it, and then ran for their lives. Muad'Dib and Chani went into the palace, and headed into the maids quarters, which had been set up as an impromtu sick bay. There Muad'Dib found his mother and the Truth Sayer praying over the dying. Alia was sitting in the corner, talking with a little boy who had a nasty knife wound on his arm.

Alia: Don't worry about the cut. It will heal, and you'll have a scar that looks like an eye with a crecent moon behind it.

Boy: How do **you** know that?

Alia: I know anything I want to know.

Boy: Okay, then, what was I doing one week ago at this time?

Alia: I really don't **want** want to know that, but to prove my point.... You were looking through the window of the girl's wash-house to see their breasts, and you stayed their for a full ten minutes untill your father caught you, smacked you for a bit, then went back to look himself.

By now, the boy was as red as his wound, and he ran off to the other corner. Alia turned.

Alia: Hello brother. Are you sure she was unconscious when the worm swallowed her?

Muad'Dib: Don't tease me. Yes, I'm sure. No man, let alone a woman, could stay conscious with the noise, and the smell, and the sight of all those spikes and bones and flesh.

Alia: **She** was conscious. She didn't faint untill she was into the hole, and it was quite painful, all those spikes. How is my neice?

Muad'Dib: Oh. Well, too late now. She's doing well, seeing as she's only two weeks old. Mother, Irulan is

Jessica: Dead. I know, Alia told me. At least Chani doesn't have to suffer the same fate I did.

Chani walked up to Jessica, grabbed her hand, and kissed it.

Chani: Thankyou. Grandmother.

Jessica gasped, and Chani nodded.

Muad'Dib: A daughter, this time. And within three years, we will change the face of Arrakis, and make it like that of Calidan. I can hardly wait. But first, I must become emperor.

Jessica: To do that, you must kill the emperor.

Muad'Dib: I will not kill him. He will kill himself. Very soon, in fact. His wife is dying. He hasn't told anyone. He concealed it well. But she **is** dying. And he will catch the disease she has. A disease called Typhus. And he will keep it to himself. Eventually, after two years, maybe a little more, he'll give in and die. We can only hope he goes quietly into the night.

Jessica: This is rather vivid for one of **your** visions. Allliiiaaa...

Alia: Sorry, mother. I couldn't resist, so I whispered it into his ear while he slept.

Muad'Dib rubbed her head fondly and smiled. Jessica rolled her eyes.

Jessica: Well, I've got patients to tend to and dying to pray for, so...

Chani: We know where the door is. I will see you later, mother.

Muad'Dib: We're going back to the Seige. There's Spice work to be done.

Alia: May I go with him, mother? I haven't been allowed in the Seige for years. I'll stay out of the way, I promise!

Jessica: Only if you promise to stay near the waters in the cave. And Alia, you must not go outside the chapel there. Stay near the waters and you should be fine.

Alia: Yes, mother.

So Alia, Muad'Dib, and Chani piled into the Avicopter and headed back to the Seige. When they got there, Alia went into the chapel, and stood by the waters.

Alia: Come forth, Melidan.

As if by magick, a raft appeared. Alia climbed on, and grabbed the oars, rowing for the other side of the cave, and a mischevious smile played across her face, and she laughed.

  
  


More to come, one hopes. Please R and R.

   [1]: mailto:perl_gerl@hotmail.com



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